


Promises

by Nice_name_myguy



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types
Genre: Calypso is only mentioned, Happy Ending, Leo doesn’t “die”, Mrs.O’Leary, Percy is a mess, Percy managed to convince Zeus to let Calypso free, Rachel is only mentioned, The Seven, There’s slight Jercy, Trials of Apollo Never Happened, someone help him, takes place in Titans Curse and after Giant War, will is only mentioned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-29
Updated: 2018-05-29
Packaged: 2019-05-15 18:29:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,237
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14795699
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nice_name_myguy/pseuds/Nice_name_myguy
Summary: I suck ass at summaries. Two of Percy’s friends  ask him to make a difficult promise before they die and it impacts him super negatively in the future





	1. First Promise

**Author's Note:**

> Uhh this is my first fanfic. It’s probbaly super shit, forgive me, but I’m open for advice on how to improve

Disclaimer!!!: All rights reserved to Rick Riordan. I don’t own any of the characters from Heroes of Olympus or Percy Jackson and the Olympians. For some paragraphs, I used direct text from Titan’s Curse  
All rights are also reserved to Rebecca Sugar, creator of Steven Universe. I don’t own any characters from Steven Universe. (There aren’t any actual characters from Steven Universe, but this was inspired by the episode “One Pale Rose”)

 

Percy 3rd POV  
The group looked at the at the metal giant, Talos or something he couldn’t remember right now. Bianca yelled at him about something from Mythomagic next to him, but he was thinking of a plan. Percy looked at her, finally coming up with something. “Crazy-idea time,” Percy said.  
Bianca looked at him anxiously. “Anything”.  
He looked back at the robot thing, “I saw a maintenance hatch somewhere. If I go inside I can probably control it from in there.”  
Bianca stared at him in shock. “How? You’ll have to stand under its foot! You’ll be crushed!”  
“Distract it,” he said. “I’ll just have to time it right”  
Bianca purses her lips, deep in thought. “No. I’ll go,” she burst out.  
Percy quickly turned to face her. “You can’t. You’re new at this! You’ll die! I can’t let that happen to you. I promised Nico-“  
Bianca looked like she was about to cry. “I know you promised Nico that you wouldn’t let me get hurt, but this is for the greater good. If I don’t do this we’ll all die, and you’re too valuable to risk your life like this.”  
Percy stared angrily at her. “Bianca you’re as valuable as the rest of us! You can’t-“

Bianca 3rd POV  
“If you don’t shut the hell up and let me do this I’ll beat you to hell and back,” she yelled. Bianca then shifted uncomfortably, and looked at her new friends who were trying to distract the robot for as long as they could. Her face turned stoic but her eyes swirled with millions of emotions; sadness, anxiety, determination, and acceptance. She looked back at Percy and grabbed his wrist lightly. “I don’t have much time and you can’t talk me out of this. Protect Nico at all costs and please, please, for me, don’t tell him the full details of what’s about to happen. It hurts to leave my little brother like this, to lie even after death, but I’m begging you to not tell him that I volunteered to do this. He’ll hate me and I... I can’t stand the idea of him hating me. Give this Hades statue to him please, so that he can have something to remember me by,” she lifted Percy’s wrist to his face so that his hand covered his mouth. “Perseus Jackson, I haven’t met you for long, but every minute has been a pleasure. Please protect my brother and don’t tell him about this.” She looked over her shoulder and yelled at Zoe to hold him back.

Zoe 3rd POV  
Zoe understood what she was going to do, and although she was against it, she knew it was necessary to continue on with the quest. Zoe held a struggling Percy with all her strength while they watched Bianca run off to the robot, and minutes later it turning off. No matter how hard the demigods looked, Bianca never showed up. At times like these, Zoe truly hated the gods.


	2. Second promise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zoe: dead  
> Artemis: crying  
> Percy: troubled

Percy 3rd POV  
Annabeth and her dad were talking about how awesome his entrance was and how he just came in on his Sopwith Camel and shot into a sea of monsters with bronze bullets when Thalia interrupted them. When Annabeth and Percy looked at her, Thalia nodded her head towards Artemis kneeling next to a dying Zoe.  
Percy ran over to her and kneeled next to her. He stuttered a string of words that could barely be understood as a sentence, but close enough. “Can’t you heal her with magic?” He asked Lady Artemis. “I mean... y-you’re a goddess can’t you do some-“  
“Life is a fragile thing, Perseus. If the Fates will the string to be cut, there is little I can do,” Artemis said grimly. “But I can try,” the smallest tinge of hope could be heard in her voice. She reached her hand to Zoe’s side, but Zoe gripped her wrist, she looked into the goddess’s eyes, and some kind of understanding passed between them.  
Zoe 3rd POV  
Zoe looked at Thalia and tried to take her hand, failing miserably. Thalia quickly but softly held her hand. Zoe chuckled weakly “I’m sorry we argued. We could have been amazing sisters.”  
Zoe then looked at Percy. “Perhaps not all men,” she smiled weakly at him. “Percy, you’ve made me change my view in men. You’ve restored my faith in some men, that maybe, not all of them are cruel pigs,” she then frowned. “Perseus, I plead of you to honor my memory, but please, don’t mention this to anyone ever again. My death has been disgraceful and I have failed my duties.” Zoe weakly grabbed his hands and put them on his mouth. “In honor of my death, this you will never speak of this.” Feeling to weak to keep her arm up any longer, she lets it drop, but she doesn’t feel a thing. She’s numb.  
“Zoe-“ Percy starts to say, but Zoe ignores him, turning to face her leader. “My lady, have I... served well?” Zoe whispered.  
Silent tears roll down her cheeks. “With great honor. The finest of my attendants.” Artemis gave her a teary smile.  
Zoe, seeming pleased and at peace, looks up at the sky. “Stars,” she whispered. “I can see the stars again, my lady.”  
More tears run down Artemis’s face. “Yes, my brave one. They are beautiful tonight.”  
“Stars,” Zoe repeated. Her eyes fixed on the night sky. And she did not move again.  
No one’s POV  
Thalia lowered her head. Annabeth gulped down a sob, and her father put his hands on her shoulders. Artemis whispered a few words in Greek, seconds later, Zoe’s body shimmered and disappeared. Percy was still kneeling, hands still over his mouth, and it almost looked like they were going glued on to his face forever. And they did. Well, only metaphorically at least.


	3. Nico’s hurt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ok so Nico loses his fucking shit. Like someone  
> h e l p h i m. He’s confused. Percy’s conflicted

Nico 3rd POV  
Annabeth, Chiron and Percy were discussing what to do if Luke decided to make an attack on Camp when they were interrupted by a knock at the door. The door swung open before Chiron even gave a clearing to come in.  
Nico di Angelo came into the room huffing and puffing, then he asked a question that made the atmosphere in the room more depressed, if that was even possible. “Hey! Where’s... where’s my sister?” He said with an anxious smile. Nico had been impatiently waiting for his Hereos to come back from their adventure so he can talk more with his sister.  
Percy got up and suddenly found the floor very interesting. He cleared his throat, “hey Nico, lets go take a walk, okay? We need to talk.” Nico hesitantly followed Percy outside. He mustered up the courage and strength to ask the same question. “Where’s my sister” he said, more sternly this time. 

 

Percy 3rd POV  
Percy subconsciously started to raise his hand towards his mouth. He stopped himself, and rested it on his neck. “Nico... you’re sister she sa-“ Percy could hear Bianca’s last requests echoing in the back of his head, telling him to lie to Nico about her sacrifice. “W-We had to go through this junkyard for gods with a bunch of cursed objects and if you took something, it would wake up a giant robot. Well, someone took something and Zoe, Thalia, Bianca and I tried to fight it, but it caught Bianca. And... a-and-“ Percy hurriedly covered his mouth to refrain his and Bianca’s secret from spilling out. He looked at the ground and silently handed Nico the small Hades statue Bianca smuggled from the junk yard for Nico with a shaky hand. He collected himself and forced himself to look at Nico’s eyes. Oh how he regretted it. Nico’s eyes swirled with anger, frustration, sadness, and worst of all, betrayal. Percy’s fatal flaw was loyalty, but he couldn’t even keep a simple promise to a young boy. “Y-your sister wanted me to give it to you.” Percy said in a small whisper. Nico suddenly burst with anger. “MY SISTER IS DEAD BECAUSE OF YOU AND ALL YOU HAVE TO SAY WAS THAT SHE GAVE YOU A STUPID STATUE TO GIVE TO ME?”Nico yelled. Nico took a step closer to Percy. Percy took one back. “TELL ME THE TRUTH. HOW DID SHE DIE. YOU'RE A HERO RIGHT? YOU’RE NOT ALLOWED TO LET PEOPLE DIE! YOU WERE SUPPOSE TO BE STRONG, YOU WERE SUPPOSE TO BE BRAVE, YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO PROTECT MY SISTER. YOU PROMISED.” Nico’s voice cracked at the end and he was trying to hold back tears. Percy wanted to tell him the truth he really did, but every time he opened his mouth, he had the urge to put his mouth over it. “Nico I’m so sorry but I-I t-tried my best I really did-“ Percy tried to convince himself that this was all a fucked up dream, his subconscious forcing him to feel more guilty about Bianca’s death. It wasn’t working.  
“WELL NEWS FLASH, ASSHOLE. MAYBE YOU’RE BEST ISNT GOOD ENOUGH. WHY CANT YOU JUST TALK TO ME ABOUT THIS. TELL ME THE TRUTH.” With every sentence, Nico got closer to Percy, and the harder the ground shook.  
“Nico I -“ Percy covers his mouth. He tries to tell him again. “I can’t- I” he covers it again.  
Nico looks at him in disbelief. “Is this some sort of joke,” his voice is full of venom, stabbing Percy with every syllable. “Are- are you mocking me?! If you’re not, then why can’t you just tell me!”  
Percy’s words are stuck in his throat, his hand is glued to his mouth. It hurts him to keep this away from Nico, but he owes Bianca so much. Nico was right, she died and it was his fault. Keeping this one promise for her is the least he can do.  
Nico yells in frustration. "I shouldn't have trusted you." He points his finger at Percy. "You lied to me. My nightmares were right!"  
"Wait. What nightmares?" Percy asks in a weak voice  
He flung the god statue to the ground. It clattered across the icy marble. "I hate you!"  
"She might be alive," Percy said desperately. "I don't know for sure—"  
"She's dead." He closed his eyes. His whole body trembled with rage. "I should've known it earlier. She's in the Fields of Asphodel, standing before the judges right now, being evaluated. I can feel it."  
Percy’s eyes widened in the slightest. He has a feeling he knows why Nico can sense her, but he’s not sure... “What do you mean, you can feel it?"  
Suddenly four skeletons appeared behind Percy. He took out Riptide and killed them effortlessly. At least that’s what he thought. They reformed in a matter of seconds. Percy looked back at Nico. “I-I know you don’t trust me but please run. I can’t kill them.” Nico ignored him, he simply just glared at him from a small distance. The ground shook vigorously, opening up and swallowing the skeletons. Percy stared at Nico in awe. “How did you...” Nico gave him one final glare before disappearing into the dark woods.  
Percy stood outside for what seemed like hours, but could of only been 5 minutes when he heard Bianca whisper. “Children of hades. That’s what we are. Percy, thank you. You’ve kept your promise for me this time.” Percy looked around to try and find her, but saw her no where. “This time?” He repeated. “Yes, this time. The promise isn’t fulfilled. You have to keep it for ever, never telling Nico, not until the day you die.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was probably super shit, I’m so sorry.


	4. The Truth... Kinda

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Miscommunications between Percy and Nico get sorta cleared up like 4 years later

No one’s POV  
After the Roman and Greek camps defeated Gaea, most campers were happy. Obviously, many had to recover from mental and physical trauma(or both), but they were doing good. It was good. No gods bothering them, no prophecies, no monsters, and no wars. Only training, camp activities, and capture the flag. And talking. A lot of talking. The gods offered to set up some sort of portal that transfers campers to the both of the camps in less than 30 seconds, and it helped many people bond. Anywhere you turn, people were sharing stories from their childhood or sharing funny events things their friends have done and pulling pranks on other cabins and legions. And that’s exactly what the seven. plus Thalia, Nico, and Reyna were doing, they were having a break from teaching sword or archery lessons or making sure kids didn’t fall into the lava at the bottom of the climbing wall. Currently, they were discussing what they were doing before the Second Titan War. 

 

Percy 3rd POV  
Jason turned to look at Thalia. “Wait, so lady Artemis had a lieutenant before you a couple years back?”.  
Thalia smiles sadly at the thought of her old friend. “Yeah, she did. Her name was Zoe Nightshade. She was amazing.”  
Leo was half paying attention to the story due to being occupied with tinkering with a couple of metal parts, wires, and batteries. “So why did you replace her?”  
Thalia looked down at the ground. “She, erm, passed during a quest to free Lady Artemis and Annabeth from Mount Tamalpais.”  
Nico’s shoulders became tense. Percy starts to fiddle with his hoodie strings.  
Frank stopped playing with Mrs.O’Leary.  
“Wasn’t Percy in that quest?” He turns to Percy. “Percy were you there when she died.”  
“I don’t really want to...” Percy moves his eyes to anywhere but his friends. A promise. He promised Zoe.  
“Why are you doing that,” Nico half yelled at him. “Why are you covering your mouth again?”  
Looking down, Percy, sure enough, found his hand covering his mouth. He put it down slightly.  
“You did that when I asked about Bianca. Are you hiding something about Zoe too? Why aren’t you telling us? Why are you lying to me again.” Nico sounded desperate and angry and the last thing Percy wanted to do was look at him.  
He heard Hazel stand up and whisper some words to Nico, trying to comfort him.  
Reyna spoke up. “Nico, I don’t know what the context is but maybe you can ask later, he looks pretty shaken up-"  
“No!,” Nico yelled. “I can’t let him do this. Not again.”  
Percy refused to look up. “I- I can’t... I’m n-not...” Percy’s shaking hands darted to his mouth.  
Nico got up and pulled Percy towards him. He was furious. Just like the day Percy told him Bianca was dead and didn’t tell him how. “You can’t what? Tell. Me. Now. I deserve to know.”  
“Nico that’s enough,” Thalia said. Annabeth pulled him off Percy and sat him down.  
Nico glared at Percy. “ it’s not enough until I found out the truth.” His voice broke and Percy’s heart shattered. He sounded just like that day. That dreadful day. Percy felt strong arms embracing him, which he swears are Jason’s, but he didn’t pay to much mind to them. He was too distracted by Bianca and Zoe’s whispers. Phrases like “Don’t tell them. This will not be spoken of. You promised.” swirled around his head, making him feel like he was drowning from all the guilt and regret of not being able to save them. 

 

Nico 3rd POV  
“Why are you showing him compassion?” Nico yelled at Jason. He’s confused. He’s just so confused. Percy never acted like this when people mention other deceased camper names, sure, he was sad, but he wasn't on the brink of a panic attack. So why was he reacting like this to Zoe and Bianca? Percy had no right. Bianca was NICO’S sister, they had a stronger bond, Nico should be the one breaking down, not Percy.  
Jason gave Nico a sad but understanding look. “Nico you’re feelings are understandable, but can’t you see that Percy’s literally shaking. There’s obviously some deeper meaning to this.” Jason’s voice soothes Nico the tiniest bit, but he was still distraught.  
“It was a promise.” Annabeth and Thalia blurted out, Thalia’s voice breaking when she said promise.  
“What type of promise would drive Percy to lie me?” Nico said hopelessly. It’s been years, he thought. I thought he would trust me enough to tell me what happened.  
Annabeth looked at Thalia for approval, which she received. She looked back at Nico. “I was only there for the last time it happened, but Zoe made Percy keep a secret as her dying honor. I’m not allowed to tell you the full details, but she made Percy put his hands over his mouth. That’s why he’s doing this right now.” She looked sadly at Percy, who was sitting on the ground being cradled by Jason. “He promised to stay silenced until the day he dies.”  
“Same thing for Bianca. I can’t tell you either because it would defeat the purpose of the promise,” Thalia hugged Nico, a hug which he surprisingly accepted. “I’m sorry Nico, but Percy is probably physically going to be unable to ever tell you about your sister.”  
Waves upon waves of guilt slammed into Nico. He’s hated Percy since he was 10 because he thought Percy wasn’t telling him the truth about his sister on purpose. But Percy never had a choice, he could see that now. He cared too much about Bianca and felt so guilty about not being able to save her that he accepted the promise to honor her. And Zoe. Percy’s felt responsible for the deaths of two people for four years. Hell, he’s probably felt responsible for every death that happened in camp. Nico pulled himself away from Thalia’s hug and walked over to Percy. He crouched down and lightly touches the hands covering his mouth, like a dam barricading an ocean of secrets and pent-up guilt from spilling out. Percy slowly looked up at him like a cornered animal. Nico grabs his boulders and gives a not-so-awkward hug. “Percy. I’m so sorry. I’m sorry about all of this. I should have never yelled at you, I should have tried to understand a little better. You shouldn’t go through this alone, but unfortunately, you’re being forced to. You’re one hell of a hero Percy. Please forgive my ignorance.” After minutes of silence, Percy hesitantly hugs him back.  
Piper yells, “I have an idea. How about we invite Will, Calypso, and Rachel to Jason’s cabin so we can all have a cuddle session?” The demigods laugh, weakly cheer, and mutter in agreement. Jason helps Nico and Percy stand up and gives one final “bro pat”(which Nico swears is a gay pat) to Percy before running off to find Will, Rachel, and the newest addition to their friend group, Calypso. While the group heads to Cabin one, Percy whispers to Nico. “I’m sorry too. Thank you for forgiving me even though you don’t even know what the promises are.” Nico smiles at Percy before looking ahead, seeing that they’re getting closer to cabin one. He usually doesn’t like any physical contact, but today he really needs it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey I’m done. Sorry if it seems really rushed


End file.
